LSC launch leads to worries over funding

A
nationwide programme to improve knowledge and skills in the workplace by
attracting 50,000 adults into further education is being introduced by the new
Learning and Skills Council.

The
LSC, launched last week by Education and Employment Secretary David Blunkett,
is to introduce bite-size courses aimed at attracting more than 1,000 new adult
learners in each of its 47 local offices throughout England.

Funded
by the LSC’s £5.5 billion first-year budget, these will range from using a
computer, surfing the Internet to basic numeracy, literacy and communication.

But
the new body, which replaces the Tec system, is already under fire from
engineering specialists.

Nick
Morrissey, chief executive of the Southampton-based engineering training body
Seta, is concerned because his organisation’s budget for the coming year is
tied to its 1999 performance. He explained in Training magazine, “I’ve improved
the quality of delivery – we’ve taken on more staff to do that. As a result the
delivery of NVQs has increased by about 43 per cent. But now I can’t afford to
resource it.”

Bryan
Sanderson, chairman of the LSC, commented, “The challenge is enormous. Nearly
six million adults have no qualifications of any kind and nearly one-third of
British workers have no formal training opportunities offered to them by their
current employer.